Siamese twin whose story amazed Beaumont now all grown up

Sarah Moor, Beaumont Enterprise

By Sarah Moore

Updated 5:17 pm, Monday, November 26, 2012

Beaumont resident Ashleigh Petry pores over a scrap book filled with news stories about her birth and infancy. Petry was one of two conjoined twins (also known as "Siamese twins") born to Joseph and Wanda Petry on Nov. 26, 1984. The babies were separated shortly after their birth, but her sister Alma died eight months later. Petry, who turns 28 on Monday, has lived an otherwise normal life.
Photo: Sarah Moore

Beaumont resident Ashleigh Petry pores over a scrap book filled...

Wanda Petry holds up a laminated front page from The Beaumont Enterprise dated Nov. 26, 1985 with a photo of her and her daughter Ashleigh, who was one of two cojoined twins born to her the year before. Ashleigh's sister, Alma, never fully recovered from the surgery that separated them the day after they were born. Ashleigh, right, has lead an otherwise normal life after her much heralded birth and infancy.
Photo: Sarah Moore

Wanda Petry holds up a laminated front page from The Beaumont...

Wanda and Ashleigh Petry tell the story of Ashleigh's birth and childhood as the surviving twin of a pair of baby girls who were born joined at the abdomen on Nov. 26, 1984. Ashleigh and her sister underwent surgery to separate them the day after they were born, but Alma never fully recovered and died eight months later.
Photo: Sarah Moore

Wanda and Ashleigh Petry tell the story of Ashleigh's birth and...

Conjoined twin Ashleigh Petry, shortly after the operation that separated her from her twin Alma on Nov. 27, 1984 when the babies were just one day old.
Photo: Courtesy Photo

Conjoined twin Ashleigh Petry, shortly after the operation that...

Conjoined twin Alma after the operation to separate the pair on Nov. 27, 1984 when they were just one day old. Alma survived the surgery, but never completely recovered and died eight months later without ever having left the hospital.
Photo: Courtesy Photo

When she was born, Beaumont resident Ashleigh Petry was a celebrity of sorts, with news of her birth and infancy reported around the world.

Petry was born Nov. 26, 1984 at UTMB Galveston, and is the surviving twin of a pair of baby girls joined at the abdomen.

The conjoined twins, also sometimes called Siamese twins, underwent surgery to separate them when they were only one day old, according to Enterprise archive accounts. It was normal to wait 4-6 weeks to operate on conjoined pairs, but because an opening in the girls' abdominal wall exposed them to infection, doctors decided to act quickly. The babies were large and healthy, weighing in at nearly 8 pounds each.

The surgery took 18 hours, and the twins' prognosis was good. Dozens of news articles chronicled their progress during the first year.

Ashleigh's life since then has been quieter, but the unusual circumstances of her birth have had a lasting effect.

"It made me feel special, like I was a superstar," the effervescent 28-year-old said Sunday during an interview at her South Beaumont home. Her mother, Wanda Petry, sitting on the couch next to her beaming, appeared to agree.

Ashleigh, who turns 28 today, is mother to a 4-year-old daughter and works as a dental assistant.

The family's saga began when Wanda became pregnant in 1984. As it was her eighth pregnancy, she felt she knew what to expect, but when her doctor discovered she was having twins, he sent her to UTMB for further tests without exactly explaining why.

Afther months in the hospital for observation, she went into surgery for the cesarean delivery clutching a verse of scripture in her hand: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Ashleigh went home to her excited family Jan. 18, 1985. Her seven brothers and sisters clamored to hold her and feed her, according to Enterprise archives. Everyone eagerly awaited Alma's return.

But although her doctors said Alma was "a tough kid" who fought hard, she continued to suffer setbacks. Chronic breathing problems necessitated a number of surgeries during her short life.

Sadly, Alma died July 25, 1985 without ever having left the hospital.

"It seems like a bad dream I keep hoping I'll wake up from," her sister Debby Petry, then 16, told The Enterprise. "You know, we thought she was going to make it."

In a news story on Ashleigh's first birthday, her mother told The Enterprise that the baby was fussy about being left alone in her crib. She wasn't spoiled, Wanda insisted - she missed her sister.

"I think she remembers that," Wanda said at the time. "They were together for nine months, face to face."

Ashleigh said that she still has moments when she feels the sensation of missing someone, without knowing who it is she's missing.